It’s Will Eisner Week 2020!

Posted on by

Will-Eisner-2020Yes, it’s time again for Will Eisner Week: an annual celebration—held this week from March 1 to March 7—run by the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation, to promote literacy, graphic novels, free speech, and the legacy of the late Will Eisner, the creator of the 1940s masked crimefighter The Spirit, and one of the founding fathers of American graphic novels. A Contract with God, A Life Force, Dropsie Avenue, and The Dreamer are just some of the fascinating tales Eisner wrote and drew, featuring ordinary people in extraordinary (and sometimes not-so-extraordinary) situations. And even though he passed away in 2005, Eisner continues to inspire generations of writers and artists. Events are being held this week around the world; visit the Will Eisner Week site for more information.

StarWarp Concepts, of course, has its share of graphic novels and comics that might pique your interest. Here are just a couple:

troubleshooters_lrg_coverTroubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings: Perfect for superhero fans, this graphic novel is about a supernatural team of superfolk-for-hire, consisting of a wizard, a sorceress, a female ninja, a high-tech-armor-wearing rock concert lighting designer, anda werewolf. Not every superhero team has Tony Stark’s billions to play with, you understand, and the Troubleshooters are just looking to earn a living while fighting the monsters that have always lurked in the shadows. Makes sense, right? Of course it does! Written by the husband-and-wife team of Richard C. White (For a Few Gold Pieces More, Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase) and Joni M. White, and illustrated by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman, Night Stalkings presents the TSI members on their first mission: protecting a multimillionaire from a trio of Middle Eastern demons out to raise a little hell!

pan_annual_coverThe Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1: Although it may not be a graphic novel, at 56 pages it’s still a pretty thick comic book, with three stories of Pan and the monsters that live in her New York City hometown. The Saga of Pandora Zwieback chronicles the adventures of sixteen-year-old Pandora Zwieback, a Gothy horror fangirl who possesses amazing powers that she just learned about, including the ability to see past the human disguises worn by monsters to blend in with society. And The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1 is a 56-page, full-color special that contains stories by Steven A. Roman (yep, me) and Sholly Fisch (Scooby-Doo Team-Up, The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold), and art by Eliseu Gouveia (Lorelei: Sects and the City, The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0) and comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld).

Both titles are available in print and digital formats, so visit their respective product pages for ordering information, as well as sample pages. Happy reading!

Happy Women in Horror Month 2020!

Posted on by

whitefell-werewolf-cvrWomen in Horror Month is here again, that annual celebration that shines the spotlight on the contributions of all the female creators—writers, artists, movie directors, producers, special makeup artists, special effects experts, etc.—who’ve brought thrills and chills to generations of fans around the world.

And speaking of women writers, Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, happens to have a title you just might be interested in checking out in celebration of this special month…

White Fell—The Werewolf, by Clemence Annie Housman, was originally published in 1896 as The Were-wolf, and is regarded by scholars as perhaps the first feminist werewolf story. In it, a beautiful woman named White Fell wanders into a snowbound village—and into the hearts of twin brothers, one of whom immediately becomes smitten by her. The other brother, however, soon grows suspicious of the enigmatic White Fell. Where did she come from? Why does she always carry an ax? And is her sudden appearance somehow related to the recent sightings of a bloodthirsty wolf in the area?He may come to regret being so inquisitive…

White Fell—The Werewolf is available as an e-book, so visit its product page at StarWarp Concepts for further information. If you enjoy tales of horror and empowered women (and werewolves!), be sure to give it a read!

Tomorrow Is Take Your Child to the Library Day 2020!

Posted on by

ghostbusters+library+sceneTomorrow, February 1, is the 9th annual Take Your Child to the Library Day.

Founded in 2011 by librarians Nadine Lipman and Caitlin Augusta, the event is held the first Saturday in February and encourages librarians to reach out to their communities and show folks just how wonderful reading can be.

Before the Internet, libraries were the source for information and reading, and these days they can use our support. So head out now, introduce your children to that big brick building with all the free books to borrow, update the library card that’s been stuck in the back of your wallet for all these years, and renew your acquaintance with a vital partner in the ongoing literacy campaign.

For more information, including the list of participating libraries, visit the TYCLD website.

Pow Con 2020 Report at the StarWarp Concepts Blog

Posted on by

PowCon2020-BadgeThis past weekend, StarWarp Concepts (and, of course, me) made its first appearance at the second annual Pow Con, held at the Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

So how’d it go for SWC and me? Well, if you head over to the StarWarp Concepts blog, you can read my Pow Con 2020 report and see for yourself. I won’t say the place was really loud, but I hope you like club music…

Greetings, Pow Con 2020 Attendees!

Posted on by

blood_feud_lg_cover_2013Thanks for stopping by the StarWarp Concepts booth this weekend, and for your interest in my Goth adventuress, Pandora Zwieback. If you’re here because you spoke with me, then click on the cover you see to the right and download the Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 digital comic that I showed you. Not only is it an introduction to Pan and her world, hosted by Pan herself, but it contains two sample chapters from her first novel, Blood Feud. Give it a read.

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback is the young adult, dark-urban-fantasy novel series that I write. It’s the story of a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets a shape-shifting monster hunter named Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, in the first critically acclaimed novel, Blood Feud, that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. But before Pan can learn more about what she can do, she and her parents are drawn into a conflict between warring vampire clans that are searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father.

“Blood Feud is far and away one of the best young adult supernatural fantasy novels released in the last few years. Pan is exactly the kind of teen heroine that readers should be standing up and cheering for.”—Melissa Voelker, HorrorNews.net

“One of those fabulous books that manages to straddle the young adult/adult fiction divide, catering equally for teens and more, ahem, ‘mature’ readers alike with a light touch that makes it a joy to read.”—Kell Smurthwaite, BCF Book Reviews

blood_reign-coverPan’s debut adventure continues in the second novel, Blood Reign, in which she and Annie face challenges from not just vampires but legions of monsters led by a fallen angel—who happens to be one of Annie’s ex-lovers! Blood Feud ended on such a shocking cliffhanger that Blood Reign picks up right where the previous novel left off and hits the ground running, in a story filled with danger, high-speed car chases, vampire hit squads, and a generous helping of romance—all while Pan tries to make sense of her increasingly weird life. Pan fans (I call them “Panatics”) can’t seem to get enough of StarWarp Concepts’ resident Goth girl, so feel free to join their growing ranks—we love adding new members to Zwieback Nation.

“If Blood Feud, the first volume, took some deliberate pacing steps to build Pandora’s character, Blood Reign eschews that as it thunders along at breakneck speed, barely pausing for breath at any given time (and, I must say, the volume was devoured at speed as well)… I thoroughly enjoyed this volume.”—Andrew Boylan, Taliesin Meets the Vampires

“If you thought the first book, Blood Feud, was high powered, you’ll love this book! To paraphrase movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn’s quote: Blood Reign starts with an earthquake and builds to a climax…. This was one fun read!”—Dwight Jon Zimmerman, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Lincoln’s Last Days

Pan’s first prose adventure concludes in the upcoming Blood & Iron, in which she, as well as her friends and family, will try to stop the legions of monsters from taking over the world.

pan_annual_coverAlong with Blood Feud and Blood Reign, also available is the 56-page comic book The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, which features two adventures (written by me) of Pan and her friends that are separate from (and take place after) the novels: a full-color drawn by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback#0), in which Pan and her boyfriend, Javier, run into one of his ex-girlfriends…whom Pan can see is really a mythological siren that can enrapture men with her voice; and a short story that pits Pan, Annie, and Javier against a trio of Elegant Gothic Lolita vampires—in a shopping mall! An additional backup tale, “After Hours,” is provided by DC Comics writer Sholly Fisch (Scooby-Doo! Team-Up) and comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld).

Give the site a look-over—we’ve got plenty of free stuff you can download, and a gallery called “The 13 Days of Pan-demonium”: 13 unique drawings of Pan and Annie by a host of talented artists.

A special shout-out to teen readers and Pandora Zwieback fans who are budding authors, but who may think their work isn’t all that good and worth continuing: Check out “Again, He Who Stalks”—a science-fiction story I wrote for my high school’s literary magazine when I was 16. Take a look at that and tell me you can’t do better! 😀

And please keep in mind that Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, is not just a YA fiction house. It also publishes illustrated classics (including J. Sheridan’s Le Fanu’s vampire romance Carmilla, Edgar Rice Burroughs’s A Princess of Mars, and the official 1932 novelization of the original King Kong); graphic novels for superhero fans and adult horror aficionados; digital and print comic books; artist sketchbooks; and writing guides for budding authors. Give them a visit and check out all they have to offer.

Pow Con 2020 Is Next Weekend!

Posted on by

This coming weekend, January 25–26, New York’s pop-culture fans of all ages will be gathering in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, at the second annual Pow Con, being held at the Brooklyn Expo Center. It’s The ’Warp’s first convention appearance of the year!

PowCon-2020Map

 

You’ll find us at table A9 in Artists Alley. And since we’ve luckily been assigned an endcap booth at the corner of two aisles that means we’ll have two tables on which to display all our finery.

Pow Con’s show hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. Guests include comics legend Larry Hama (Wolverine, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero) and the usual complement of Power Rangers, wrestlers, and anime voice actors that have become the norm at today’s pop-culture shows.

For more information on the convention, visit the Pow Con website.

Holiday Gifts for Art Fans 2019

Posted on by

SWC_Larkin_SketchbookThe Bob Larkin Sketchbook: It’s a collection of incredible pencil drawings by the acclaimed cover artist of Star Wars, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Doc Savage, and what you’ll discover when you see them is how wide-ranging his subjects are. Sci-fi, horror, Westerns, pulp adventure, crime fiction, movie merchandise, even wrestling stars—as we say on the book’s back cover, there really islittle that he hasn’t painted. And the sketchbook features three pieces created especially for it: the Pandora Zwieback cover art; a portrait of Patricia Savage, the fightin’ cousin of pulp fiction’s top-tier adventurer, Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze; and a two-page spread in which Doc faces off against another Golden Age crimefighter—The Shadow!

PanPrintBlood Feud full-color print by Bob Larkin: Have you ever looked at the cover of Blood Feud, the first novel in our exciting Saga of Pandora Zwieback novel series, and thought, “Man, that’s some awesome artwork. I would so buy a poster of that!” Well, now here’s your chance! Presented without logos or book-cover copy, this 11” x 17” cardstock print features the art of master painter Bob Larkin, and is limited to just 100 copies. Order yours today while supplies last!

Holiday Gifts for Horror Fans 2019

Posted on by

As the song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” The holidays are in full swing, and that means it’s present-buying time. Have a horror fan in your life? Then allow us to recommend some books that might grab their attention—by the throat, of course!

blood_feud_lg_cover_2013Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1: This critically acclaimed novel by yours truly explainshow teenaged Goth girl Pandora Zwieback, along with her parents and friends, are drawn into a conflict between an immortal, shape-shifting monster hunter named Annie and warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father! It’s a character-driven action-fest featuring the kind of gun-toting vampires that would make Selene from the Underworld movies feel right at home, and it leads immediately into the second novel:

Blood-Reign-FinalCvrIn Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2, Pan faces even greater challenges as the vampire clans draw up plans to go to war with humanity. Leading the charge is a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover! But Pan isn’t about to let some ancient monster win the day, not when the lives of her parents and friends—along with those of every human on the planet—are at stake, so she leads a charge of her own. Yes, there’s more vampire gunplay involved—the undead sure do like their firearms—but that’s only part of the dangers Pan has to contend with, as her adventures take her to a mysterious South Pacific island where monsters dwell!

Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase is the latest release from fantasy Richard C. White. It’s a collection of fantasy-noir, pulp-detective tales starring a private eye working the supernatural beat in the city of Calasia. From a sexy chanteuse who literally turns into a beast when the moon is full to a string of pearls that kills its owners, and from the ghost of a dead woman seeking justice to the Grim Reaper’s little girl seeking her stolen chicken, Theron Chase certainly has his hands full—of danger, death, and dames!

Carmilla_CoverCarmilla is the blood-drenched temptress of this 19th-century novella by author J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Carmilla Karnstein is a vampiress who desires not just blood but love from her victims, and when she enters the life of a young woman named Laura, Carmilla decides that her new friend will become her next great love—and won’t take no for an answer. Regarded as the one of the earliest lesbian vampire tales—if not the first—Carmilla was an influence on author Bram Stoker in the creation of the vampire brides in his seminal novel, Dracula, and remains a popular character in fiction to this day. The StarWarp Concepts edition features six all-new illustrations by artist Eliseu Gouveia.

king-kong-cvrKing Kong: The ultimate version of Beauty and the Beast (with killer biplanes—and dinosaurs!) celebrated its 85th anniversary this year, was adapted as a hit musical on Broadway, and has its star getting ready for his upcoming bout with the King of the Monsters in November 2020’s Godzilla vs. Kong (a sequel to both Kong of Skull Island and this year’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters). Know a Kong fan or a devotee of kaiju (giant monsters)? Then they’ll definitely enjoy this digital-exclusive Illustrated Classic: the 1932 novelization of the original Kong movie! Written by Delos W. Lovelace, based on the screenplay by James A. Creelman and Ruth Rose,it includes scenes cut from the final print and, as a bonus, our edition features six exclusive illustrations by pulp-influenced artist Paul Tuma.

whitefell-werewolf-cvrWhite Fell—The Werewolf: Looking for a tale of female empowerment? Then how about this SWC Horror Bite by renowned author, artist, and suffragette Clemence Annie Housman that’s regarded by scholars as the first feminist werewolf story ever published! Abeautiful woman wanders into a snowbound village—and into the hearts of twin brothers, one of whom immediately becomes smitten by her. The other brother, however, soon grows suspicious of the enigmatic White Fell. Where did she come from? And is her sudden appearance somehow related to the recent sightings of a bloodthirsty wolf in the area?

Blood Feud, Blood Reign, Chasing Danger, and Carmilla are available in print and digital formats. King Kong and White Fell are digital exclusives. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information, as well as sample pages and chapters.

DriveThru’s 2019 Thanksgiving Sale Is Underway!

Posted on by

thanksgiving-turkey-mdBeating the rush before the post-Thanksgiving shopping season goes into overdrive this weekend, e-book distributor DriveThru Fiction—along with its sister sites DriveThru Comics and DriveThru RPG—has launched its annual Thanksgiving Weekend Sale, during which you can purchase a ton of digital books and comics at special prices! It runs from now through Monday, December 2—so it covers those special shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday—and yes, you’ll need to set up an account (it’s free) to take advantage of this promotion.

Included among the many participating publishers is StarWarp Concepts (of course), which means you can take advantage of some sweet discounts while the sale’s running. Been meaning to purchase author Richard C. White’s ever-growing backlist of titles, which includes this year’s noir-fantasy collection Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase, as well as his bestselling guide for gamers and writers, Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination? Interested in checking out the comic-book adventures of Lorelei, the seductive succubus who’s SWC’s First Lady of Horror? Had plans to meet Goth adventuress Pandora Zwieback, star of young adult books and comics?

Then head on over to the SWC DriveThru Comics page or the SWC DriveThru Fiction page now and get to shopping! And have a Happy Thanksgiving!